Revenge of the Bunnyman
by ShinyShiny9
Summary: The former grounds of Darkley's School for Bad Boys are no place to be at night . . .
1. Chapter 1

**Hey fellas! Let's see, this one has three chapters, it should end nicely on Halloween itself . . .**

 **You know, I could never comprehend before how "horror" and "humor" ever wound up together on the genre list, but now I'm beginning to understand. Most of this story is going to be happy and cute and hopefully funny, but there will be some references to pretty heavy blood, gore, and psychopathy. Read at your own risk, fellas.**

* * *

"Whew," said Cole. "What a day."

"What a week," said Nya.

"What a _month_ ," groaned Kai.

"What a—"

"No, Jay, we're not taking this all the way to 'what a millenium.' Please."

The ninja and Nya were flopped down in various nooks and crannies of a dusty room, most of them sprawled atop cardboard boxes. It had indeed been a whirlwind month: the Overlord had just been defeated, and the ninja team was left just a little aimless. Wu had insisted the original four become teachers, and they had spent the past few weeks searching for a suitable school location. Now they had finally moved in—into the halls of the former Darkley's School for Bad Boys, no less.

"I had no idea the spiders in the secret passage were so savage," said Nya. "We'll have to warn the zookeeper."

"I hope he takes good care of them," said Lloyd wistfully, patting the cage filled with giant screeching spiders. "They were kinda the class pets of Darkley's. We would go feed them bits of hamburger sometimes."

"Oh, so that's why they all jumped on you," grinned Cole. "I thought they just liked shiny things."

Lloyd snorted. His new golden suit was still catching a lot of attention. It had a truly remarkable ability to stay spotless even in the dustiest corners of Darkley's, and the new title that came with it was just as slow to tarnish. He still hadn't fully registered that the Overlord was gone, his dad was back, and his family was whole again. Everybody still hadn't fully registered that he was the _freakin'_ U.S.M.

The others couldn't resist teasing him a little extra. It was a welcome change after the dark days prior to the final battle, and it was part of their duty as protectors of the Chosen One to make sure the whole "Ultimate Spinjitzu Master" thing didn't go to his head.

Seriously.

Said so right in the handbook.

Besides, he was due to leave this very evening, starting a long tour of award ceremonies and speeches, and they were all trying to distract themselves from how much they'd miss him.

There were some half-hearted attempts to start unpacking their boxes, which mostly just resulted in packing peanuts getting thrown about. Suddenly Zane hissed "Sensei's coming!" and everyone hastily dropped handfuls of peanuts and brushed them from their hair and clothes.

The Sensei strode into the room, leaning slightly on his staff.

"Ah," he said. "I see you have finished with the spiders. Good work, everyone. This kind of discipline will serve you well in your new teaching careers."

Kai elbowed Cole surreptitiously and nodded at his hair, which still had some packing peanuts clinging to it. If Wu noticed Cole hastily brushing his hair clean, he didn't comment.

"Pupils," said the wise old teacher. "I feel now is the right time to tell you. There are three reasons why I chose the former location of Darkley's School for Bad Boys as the campus of our new school."

The ninja perked up dutifully, ready to listen.

"The first, of course, is for its symbolic significance," said Wu. "By moving into this space, we send a clear message that good will always overcome evil. In the ruins of darkness, new life flourishes."

"Uh-oh, he's pulling out the level 9 fancy phrases," whispered Jay. "Must be one of the big speeches."

Cole snickered softly.

"The second reason," said Wu, "is more practical. As the grounds of Darkley's were abandoned and no prospective use for them could be seen, this was one of the most convenient and affordable locations we could purchase."

"Convenient," muttered Kai, shaking stray cobwebs from his foot.

"Lastly, and perhaps most importantly," said Wu. "This property may offer a solution to one of the most pressing problems still facing Ninjago today."

"Problems?" Lloyd sat up, looking anxious. "What problems?"

"The Great Devourer's venom," said Wu. "As you recall, it seeped into the city's foundations and developed a nasty habit of reanimating Stone Warriors. Some expert geologists have probed beneath the city, and they report that there may be massive pools of leftover venom gathering deep underground."

"Uh-oh." Cole grimaced. "That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen."

"But the grounds of this school may hold the solution," said Wu. "Several ancient documents spoke of the Chisean Stone, a powerful artifact that can purify almost anything. If we could find this stone, we could neutralize all of the remaining Great Devourer venom in Ninjago."

"And you think it is somewhere in this school?" said Zane.

"At least on the grounds," replied Wu. "The most recent documents hint that the Chisean Stone was obtained by the forces of evil and hidden underground, in the tunnel system on this property."

"There's a tunnel system on the school grounds?!" said Cole. "Does it lead into the school?"

"It used to." Misako stepped up and spread a tattered blueprint atop a cardboard box. "Since Darkley's was an evil school, students were encouraged to play truant and sneak out past curfew. A tunnel system was dug to help with this; it used to lead from the students' locker room to the edge of the school's property, right here." She tapped a corner of the map. "However, the end closest to the school caved in only a few years after it was built, so the tunnel can now only be accessed through the trapdoor at the far end. They may have been using it as a storage cellar."

"And a hiding place for that fancy stone!" said Kai. "Let's go for it."

* * *

They went to check the school entrance to the tunnels first, in case Cole could do something about the cave-in. A few students were loitering in the locker room, packing up books or searching for sports equipment.

Lloyd stopped as soon as he stepped through the door, an odd expression on his face.

"You okay?" said Kai.

Lloyd nodded distantly, his glance flickering to two of the kids across the room. They in turn met his gaze, then looked away awkwardly.

"Hi Lloyd," said one of them, without much enthusiasm.

"Hey." Lloyd smiled weakly. "Hey, you guys, meet Brad and Gene. They were . . . friends of mine, back when I went to school here. Guess they're gonna be your students now."

"Woah." Jay looked from Lloyd, to Brad and Gene, then back to Lloyd. The height difference was not insignificant. "Wellllll, this is awkward."

"So, savior of Ninjago, huh?" said one of the boys cheekily. He pushed his glasses up on his nose, smirking. "Nice suit."

Lloyd flicked his eyes at the ceiling silently. The other boy, Brad, was casting him uneasy glances, clearly wondering what to say. It had to be weird, seeing the little kid you had pushed around and looked out for suddenly all grown up, older than you, a national hero. Lloyd didn't know what to say either.

"So, are we just gonna stand here like this?" said Jay at last.

"Probably, yeah," mumbled Lloyd.

"Well guys, there's nothing I can do here," said Cole. He'd been examining the cave-in like a responsible person all this time; the wall of rubble and dirt was concealed behind a wallpapered door. "There's too much for me to move, and it's too unstable. We'll have to go in from the other end after all."

"You guys will have to go without me," said Lloyd. "I've got to start out right after dinner."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Brad came storming into their midst, waving one hand for a halt. "Hold on a sec. You guys are going into the secret tunnel?"

"Yeah," said Kai. "We're looking for the Chisean Stone."

"Ohhh, you don't wanna go down there," put in Gene. "Especially not at night."

"Why, what's the deal?"

"It's dangerous on the grounds at night!" said Brad. "It's _haunted_."

"Of course it is," said Jay. "Thank goodness. I would have been disappointed if the evil school wasn't properly haunted."

"Don't joke." Brad folded his arms. "You could lose your lives out there. Didn't Lloyd tell you the basic Darkley's survival skills?"

All eyes turned to Lloyd. He shrugged.

"Geez. Well, okay then." Brad shook his head. "If you're going to be living on the grounds now, I guess we should at least warn you how things work around here."

The ninja exchanging knowing glances. Typical smart-alec kids, wanting to spook their new teachers.

"Go ahead then," said Cole graciously. "Tell us what we need to know."

"Well, ideally you shouldn't go out at all," said Gene. "But if you _have_ to go running around outside at night, make sure you throw a rock at the gravestone by the east fence."

"And why?"

"To appease the ghost! If you throw rocks he'll leave you alone and you'll be safe. But if you don't, you'll have to face the wrath of Bunnyman Bob!"

A moment of silence. Then the ninja minus Lloyd burst out laughing.

"Oh, shut up," grumbled Lloyd, red-faced.

"And you always told us you didn't know any scary stories!" teased Cole, elbowing the younger ninja. "What does he do, nibble you to death?"

"Does he stab you with a carrot?" sang Kai.

"It's not funny!" Brad and Gene were indignant. "Bunnyman Bob isn't a _bunny_. He's a person!"

"Oh, this is a story I've got to hear," chuckled Jay.

"Okay, we'll tell you." Brad huffed. "We know exactly how it happpened. We were _there_."

"Of course," said Kai wryly. "Well, let's hear it."

"Sit down," ordered Brad. "It's a long one."

The ninja obediently settled down on benches or the floor, still somewhat amused. Brad glanced meaningfully back at Gene and exchanged a nod with his classmate. Then he began.


	2. Chapter 2

"Bob was one of the older kids, an upperclassman—and always a little too intense," said Brad. "I guess it was because of his name. You know, it's really hard to sound evil when your name is Bob. He kinda heard about it, so . . . maybe that had something to do with it. I dunno.

"Anyway, Bob was always trying to prove how evil he was. One day Old Jones, the groundskeeper, left a lawnmower out on the lawn. Bob got hold of it and turned it on, and he thought he'd show off by running it into the pond."

"People weren't really cheering him on," said Gene. "Even if he wasn't evil, Old Jones was pretty okay."

"Yeah, he hated all the same teachers we did and knew stories about pirates and stuff," said Brad. "Everyone kinda liked him. So nobody really wanted to wreck his lawnmower, which meant Bob got a lot of attention trying to hijack it. He was heading for the pond at top speed, and suddenly he runs over a nest of baby bunnies hidden in the grass. Tiny, tiny little bunnies who couldn't even walk yet."

"Oh boy." Jay cringed.

"Yeah." Brad nodded grimly. "And then, when he realized what had happened? He backed up the mower and ran over them _again._ "

A suitably cold silence.

"Remember the screaming?" whispered Gene.

"Do I." Brad shuddered. "I didn't even know rabbits could _make_ that kind of noise."

"And remember how when Bob tilted the mower back, it was a like a lawn sprinkler, only with—"

"Thaaaaat's enough now," interrupted Lloyd, giving the boys a reproachful look. "I think they get the point."

"Psh." Brad rolled his eyes, unimpressed. "Well, anyway. Bob didn't win any friends with that stunt. I mean, we were a school for stock villains, you know? Standard evil cackling, taking over the world, overly complicated schemes, that kind of stuff. Being a total psychopath bunny murderer—that was low, even for Darkley's."

"So some of the other older kids got mad," said Gene. "They wanted to teach Bob a lesson."

"Old Jones had already cleaned up the . . . well, what was left of the bunnies," said Brad. "He put it all in a trash bag and dumped it down the garbage chute—that one over there." He pointed. "The older kids wanted to get that bag full of bunny guts back, but they were all way too big to climb down the shaft. So they started asking around, until finally they found the _one_ kid in the entire school who was small enough to fit down there . . . "

"Lloyd," said Gene.

" _What?!_ " Everyone turned to stare at Lloyd, who was in turn staring in disbelief at Brad and Gene.

"Did you _really_ have to—" he began, but Brad waved for silence.

"You don't have to be modest about it, Lloyd," he said. "It was really brave. Even all the big kids said so."

"I . . . " Lloyd looked like he wanted to say a lot of different things. At last he sighed in defeat and sat back, gesturing for Brad to go on.

"He started a year early, you know," said Brad. "And he was still a first-year back then. He was really small. They let him down the shaft with just a flashlight, and he fetched that bag of mangled bunny guts like it was nothing. Good thing, too, because the big kids said they wouldn't pull him back up if he didn't find it.

"So then the big kids took the bag upstairs to the upperclassmen's dorms. Bob was sleeping. But in the morning . . . just as he was waking up . . . they opened the bag and—"

There was an audible intake of breath. Jay gagged.

"Remember the screaming?" whispered Gene.

"Do I." Brad again shuddered. "We could hear him three floors down in the first-years' dorms."

"Okay, you kids were _sick_ ," said Jay. "Absolutely sick."

"That's not the end," said Brad, shaking his head. "You see, after that, Bob was ruined. He was a laughingstock all over the school. Mocked as the guy who could murder innocent bunnies but not stand their blood. After that he just kinda . . . cracked."

"He started tormenting small animals," said Gene softly. "He would torture them to death, trying to prove how tough he was. Then one day, he got bitten by a rabid raccoon. He didn't know it was rabid—he didn't know he would get sick."

"Nobody knew." Brad hung his head. "When he first started stumbling around acting weird, everyone just made fun of him even more. We didn't know he was going to die."

"Then he tried to kill a teacher," said Gene. "Tried to bite his throat right out. They saw he was crazy, and they threw him down into the tunnels, out on the grounds. They closed the trapdoor. They left him to starve."

"He was there for _days,_ " said Brad. "Screaming. Always screaming."

"And then, he finally died."

"The screaming stopped."

"For a while."

"But then he came back." Brad looked up to meet each ninja's eyes in turn. "His ghost is out there every night. Eventually they put up a little marker in his memory, just to stop all that _screaming_. If you throw a stone at the marker, the way Bob used to throw stones at animals, he'll know you respect him and leave you alone. But if you don't . . . he'll come get you. Foaming at the mouth, covered in blood and guts, leading an army of the animals he murdered."

"If you're smart, you won't go down into the tunnels at all," piped up Gene. "Rock or no rock, nobody ever goes down there, except on a dare."

"Didn't _you_ go down there once?" said Lloyd, raising an eyebrow. "I remember that. You wanted to prove the ghost wasn't real."

"Remember the screaming?" said Brad, smirking. Gene huffed, folding his arms.

"The ghost was screaming, not me."

"Go _onnn_ , Gene." Brad gave a snort of laughter. Lloyd tried not to smile. He remembered that night well—it hadn't been so long ago—but he thought it might be untoward to laugh at a kid who was now inexplicably much younger than him. This whole aging-up business was a mess.

"Anyways," said Brad, looking back up to the ninja. "If I were you, I'd throw a whole ton of rocks at Bunnyman Bob's grave tonight. You don't want to take _any_ chances."

The ninja looked at each other.

"We'll keep it in mind," said Kai.

The sober atmosphere was broken by a cheerily clanging bell. Everyone started a little.

"Oh, dinner!" said Brad. "Awesome."

"Shoot, we should go," said Cole, scrabbling to his feet. "Teachers are supposed to be cafeteria monitors!"

"Go ahead Mr. Cole, we'll catch up!" called Brad. He and Gene were already hurriedly packing their schoolbooks away as the ninja headed out of the locker room. Gene swung his backpack on so enthusiastically that he nearly overbalanced.

"Woah," said Lloyd, steadying him. Gene gave him a quick nod and made a beeline for the door, following Brad.

" _Just_ a minute," said Lloyd.

The two former Darkley's boys froze in the doorway. Then they reluctantly turned around.

"What exactly _was_ that?" asked Lloyd, his arms folded. Brad and Gene traded glances, then looked to him.

"You know, Bunnyman Bob," said Gene hopefully. "Classic Darkley's story. Everyone knows it."

"Well sure," said Lloyd. "But last I remember, Bunnyman Bob was one of the school's _first students_. As in, hundreds of years ago. As in, definitely not _me_ climbing down that trash chute?"

"Ohh," said Gene. "Um."

He and Brad shuffled their feet for a moment. Lloyd waited, his foot tapping.

"Well, we wanted to put you in the story," said Brad. "To—to make the others shut up."

"We thought giving you a part in it would make you look hardcore, get you some respect," said Gene, kicking at the air grudgingly. "Gosh knows you need it."

"What?" Lloyd blinked, feeling a disbeliving smile spreading across his face. "Aww, you guys. Really?"

"They were giving you a hard time," said Brad.

"Aw, no, you didn't have to worry," said Lloyd, chuckling. "The guys are just like that. They mess with me a little now and then, but I tease them too. It's all good."

"Oh." Brad and Gene looked discomfited.

"But hey," said Lloyd gently, tilting his head in an effort to meet their downcast eyes. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

Gene gave a roll of his eyes that might have passed for "yeah, yeah, you're welcome," and whisked out the door. Brad, however, looked up and gave Lloyd a small smile.

"Hey. I know we weren't _really_ good friends, and things have gotten . . . _weird_ , lately . . . " He subtly gestured at how much taller Lloyd was than him now. "But you're still kind of one of us. I know things are gonna be different now, what with you being super-good and old and stuff—"

"I'm not exactly eighty." Lloyd gave an amused snort. Brad smiled sheepishly.

"Anyway. We're still kinda friends."

Lloyd hesitated a moment, but at last gave Brad an honest smile.

"Thanks," he said. "It's an honor."

He held out one hand, and Brad gave it a light five and fist bump. Then he turned to the doorway. At the last moment he looked back.

"Besides," he said. "I have Mr. Kai for history, and he's given me a demerit _already._ Gotta get him _somehow_."

Lloyd looked after the youngster blankly as he disappeared. After a moment he sank his face into his hands and started to laugh. There wasn't really much else that could be done.


	3. Chapter 3

**Happy Halloweeeeeeen! Hope you guys had/are having fun!**

* * *

Right after dinner Lloyd left for his trip. Or at least he tried to; it took a while to get through all the hugs and goodbyes and advice from his family, teammates, and Sensei.

Finally, though, his golden dragon was a vanishing speck on the horizon. It seemed awfully quiet all of a sudden.

"It better not go to his head," mumbled Kai, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Cole heaved a sigh.

"C'mon boys, let's get going. We've got some tunnels to explore."

They took a bunch of lanterns and flashlights and headed for the east end of the property. They walked in silence, a pool of light bobbing around the lantern Zane held.

Eventually they spotted a pale white shape near the fence. Zane swung the lantern closer, illuminating a small granite block, surrounded by mounds and mounds of rocks. Cole crouched down to push a few of them aside, squinting at the inscription on the tombstone.

"'In memory of Bob Spinger.' Huh."

A moment of silence.

"You think it's okay to re-use rocks?" said Jay. Cole shrugged and handed up a few stones. They all backed off a little distance and paid their respects.

"I feel like an idiot," said Kai, but offered no further opposition.

It took them a few minutes to find the trapdoor, which was heavily overgrown. They had to work pretty hard to break the heavy door free of the undergrowth and heave it open.

Once the door slammed to the grass, everyone seemed to tense a little. Nothing happened, though. No screaming. No zombie corpses clawing their way out of the hole. Not even the stench of death.

"Wouldn't his skeleton still be down there?" said Jay uneasily.

"Lovely thought," said Cole, grimacing. He clicked on a flashlight and shone it down into the dark maw of the tunnel. They all flinched a little as a blanket of creepy-crawlies scuttled out of the beam of light on the floor.

"Yick," muttered Jay.

There was a rusty ladder bolted to the wall. One by one they carefully climbed down it. Zane went last, climbing with one hand as the other held the lantern. The last rung broke beneath him, and he fell backwards in a whirlwind of swinging light.

"Woah!" Kai caught him by the shoulders and levered him upright. "Easy there."

"Thank you," said Zane, regaining his composure.

They lit all the lights they had. The tunnel was dingy, barely tall enough to stand in, and showed signs of disrepair, but it seemed stable enough. The bugs fled before the ninja's pool of light, clearing the way.

"Is anyone else really cold?" asked Jay uneasily.

"Kinda," said Kai. He stood confidently enough, but his eyes were flicking around the tunnel a little too fast to be casual.

"The cold temperature is only an effect of being underground," said Zane. " . . . I think."

"Well," said Cole gamely. "On we go."

They stayed close together, stepping quietly through the dank, twisty passageway. Here and there it branched off into little alcoves or dead-ends, probably places where the diggers had given up due to hard going.

"Quiet enough so far," remarked Kai hopefully.

Jay gave a strangled sound of distress as he walked into a mass of spiderwebs.

"Get them off get them off getthemoff! Gahhhhh . . . "

"Easy, easy, there's no spiders." Cole laughed a little, helping to peel the sticky strands off the lightning ninja. "And this is the guy who just finished fighting a bunch of invincible Stone Warriors?"

Jay growled, rubbing at his face.

"This freaking Chisean Stone better be worth it."

"This freaking stone better be _here_ ," said Kai. "Or we'll have to come up with a whole new plan to get rid of that Devourer venom."

"Do we have to get rid of it?" mumbled Jay miserably. "I mean, who even goes underground in Ninjago City? We could leave the venom alone down there. Maybe it would go bad with time."

"C'monnnnn, Jay," said Cole, walking ahead. "Do you really want to gamble with Ninjago's safety?"

"But it's creepy down here! What if the psycho ghost is watching us?"

"It's not that creepy." Cole glanced back. "As long as nothing is actually attacking, screaming, or oozing up the wall in a ghostly white slime, I'm good."

Jay opened his mouth to protest further, but just at that moment Zane poked his head unexpectedly out of a hidden side passage, his lantern twinkling. Jay and Cole both jumped back, startled; Cole's flashlight flew from his hand and bounced to the floor, its light dying.

"Sorry," said Zane. Jay looked to Cole, his eyebrows raised.

"Okay, so it's _slightly_ creepy," said Cole grudgingly, retrieving his flashlight and jiggling the batteries back into place. "But we're not going anywhere till we find that stone."

"Along those lines," said Zane. "I believe I've found something. I am not sure it's what we're looking for, though."

The others followed him down the side passage and joined him by a small alcove in the wall, carefully carved. A metal pedestal stood within it, and atop the pedestal rested a large, smooth, perfectly round stone. It was jet-black and opalescent, gleaming faintly in the glow of their lights. It could have been a gigantic black pearl.

"You think this is it?" said Kai. "It's set up like it's something special, but . . . "

"Hmm." Cole reached cautiously towards the stone. Nothing happened when he touched it, so he carefully slipped his hands underneath it and lifted it off its pedestal.

"Pretty heavy," he remarked. But still nothing happened.

"Well, now what?" said Jay after a moment. "We came all the way down here, risked the wrath of a psycho ghost, crawled around with the bugs, and all we get for it is a shiny rock that might not even be the real thing. What do we do now, go crawling under Ninjago City to see if we can clean Devourer venom with this?"

" _Woah_ ," said Cole suddenly. "You guys."

Balancing the stone in one hand, he held out the other to his teammates. His palm, which had previously been covered with rust and grime, was now absolutely spotless.

"Let me try!" Kai scraped some dirt from the wall and rubbed it all over his hands. Then he pressed his hand against the stone. It came away clean.

"Yep," said Cole, grinning. "This is the one."

"Oh my gosh," said Jay, looking at the stone with a whole new reverence. "Just imagine what this thing could do for laundry."

Laughing, they returned to the main passage and started to head for the exit, forgetting the creepy sensation that had been following them around down here.

They had only gone a few steps, however, before Zane held up a hand.

"Wait," he said, his voice sharp. "Do you hear that?"

Everyone stopped. Silence fell. From behind them came the sound of footsteps.

The ninja froze, staring at each other with wide eyes. The footsteps continued, soft but purposeful. A faint rattling breath accompanied them.

Jay made a break for it. The others were right on his heels. Behind them the footsteps also began to run, keeping pace. Within ten seconds the ninja were back aboveground, slamming the trapdoor shut and locking it.

For a few seconds they panted, exchanging terrified glances. After a moment Cole started to laugh between gasps for air.

"Boy, are we ever brave," he said. "We were running from the echo of our own footsteps."

The others looked at each other and relaxed, chuckling a little sheepishly.

"Guess we won't be able to tell anyone we met the psycho ghost," said Jay.

"Aww, I'm a little disappointed," joked Kai.

Then a bloodcurdling scream echoed up from directly below the trapdoor.

They didn't stop running until they were back inside the school.


End file.
